THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING; Technology Marketers Go Touchy-Feely in Effort to Lure Customers to New Products

By LOUISE STORY

Published: November 30, 2006

VERIZON'S newest store in North Texas lets consumers walk in, sit down, play the latest video game, practice downloading music, or if it's the weekend, kick back and watch football in high definition.

With what it calls an experience store in Southlake, Tex., Verizon becomes the latest electronics retailer to open an outlet that feels more like an entertainment center or arcade then a phone store.

''The big proposition here is to experience the product and try it,'' said Robert E. Ingalls Jr., executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Verizon Communications. ''Seeing it, touching it and feeling it gives them a better opportunity to make a decision.''

Located in an open-air mall near Lane Bryant and Ann Taylor shops, the 5,000-square-foot store, in an affluent suburb between Dallas and Fort Worth, features 24 giant high-definition plasma TVs, 20 flat-screen computers, a video gaming nook and dozens of phones. Shoppers can compare different speeds for broadband connections or watch television delivered over Verizon's fiber optic system. Or they can practice downloading music or videos onto their cellphones.

''We know that there are customers who are very comfortable buying products online or on the phone but there's also a segment of the population who really want to feel or touch or look at the products before they buy them,'' a spokesman for Dell, Venancio Figueroa, said.

Dell and other technology companies, like AT&T and Motorola, have recently opened similar stores.

The Southlake store, which features products from Verizon Wireless and Verizon Communications, opened in early November. It represents a different approach for Verizon, which has been mostly selling its broadband products through call centers, direct mail and telemarketing.

Verizon plans to open a similar store this month in a location the company has not announced. If the two trial stores attract enough foot traffic and sales, Mr. Ingalls said, Verizon will consider expanding the concept nationwide.

The new store is most busy on weekends and during lunch breaks during the week, the store manager, Travis Dodson, said. People are spending the most time playing with the VCast music feature, which allows them to download music to their cellphones, and with the broadband offerings. It is not uncommon for men to come into the store's TV lounge and watch college sports while their wives are shopping elsewhere, Mr. Dodson said. Children also play online games while their parents shop.

Besides sales, Mr. Dodson said the store emphasized customer service. Verizon has trained employees to teach customers how Verizon landline phones, cellphones and broadband connections can be used together. The store also has a ''guru zone'' where customers can ask their technology questions.

''Anytime a customer comes in and purchases a new device, there's a learning curve,'' Mr. Dodson said. ''There's a lot of questions that come with new technology, and making sure the customer understands what they've purchased is part of good service.''

In July, Dell opened a similar ''try before you buy'' store in Dallas. The store features about 35 products at any given time, many more than Dell's 189 small kiosks in malls. Dell will open another such store in West Nyack, N.Y., early next year

AT&T, too, has been playing show-and-tell with what it is calling its Hometown Tour. The company is setting up several temporary displays to show off its broadband products.

Earlier this year, Motorola set up a try-it store on North Michigan Avenue, along the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, to temporarily showcase its Moto Q, Motorazr and Motokrzr phones. Visitors could try out the phones' features, including taking photos and printing them or e-mailing them on the spot. Sales clerks were on hand to answer consumer questions about the phones.

''I remember the days that the only two questions you used to get from a consumer were 'what's the call quality like?' and 'how long does the battery last?' '' said Jeremy Dale, vice president for global retail and channel marketing for Motorola. ''Marketing and selling products these days is much more complicated than it used to be.''